The evolution of humanoid robots (pictures)

With advances in sensors and control systems, humanoid robots, like DARPA's Atlas, are soon to be working side by side with us in everything from industry to entertainment.

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DARPA's Atlas

On Thursday, DARPA unveiled one of the more frightening and futuristic robots we've ever seen. But the massive 6-foot humanoid robot, which was developed by Boston Dynamics, isn't designed to kill -- it's here to help us.

Atlas, with 28 hydraulically actuated joints, is one of the most advanced humanoid robots ever built. But the humanoid is essentially a physical shell, a starting point for the software brains and nerves that the teams from DARPA’s Virtual Robotics Challenge will use as a development platform.

We're not yet in danger from these bipedal bots, but better sensors, muscle-like actuators, and more advanced planning and control systems are making robots more and more like us everyday.

After more than 30 years of robotics development, we are soon sure to see the machines walking among us.

Rubber artificial muscle, 1967

In 1967, an artificial muscle was developed by professor Ichiro Kato and his team at Waseda University in Japan, one of the centers of early robotics research. Rubber embedded in several threads along a longitudinal axis for the first time created muscle-like movements which contracted longitudinally due to lateral constraint by the threads.

Artificial muscle made of rubber, 1969

The anthropomorphic pneumatically activated WAP-1 had artificial muscles made of rubber which were attached as actuators. Bipedal movement was made possible by teaching playback control of its artificial muscles.

Shadow, 1987

Shadow, founded by Richard Greenhill in 1987, has been making robots and developing associated technologies that aim to build a general-purpose robot that might be useful in homes to perform daily tasks.

H5, 1998

REEM-A, 2005

REEM-A, a walking, manipulation, speech and vision development platform, was completed in 2005. In 2006 it was ready to take part in the RoboCup competition in Bremen where it won the walking competition and was a semifinalist in the penalty kicks portion of the games.

In 2007, using the same software as 2006, REEM-A also took part in the RoboCup in Atlanta and was once again a finalist in the penalty kick competition.

Robothespian, 2005

RoboThespian, which began in England in 2005 from Engineered Arts Limited, is fully interactive, multilingual, user-friendly, capable of communicating and interacting with humans, and available now for around $85,000.

HRP-3 Promet, 2007

HRP-3 Promet Mk-II, HRP-2 Promet, and HRP-3 Prototype humanoid robots are displayed during the Promet Mk-II press preview at Kawada industry's laboratory in Haga town near Utsunomiya city north of Tokyo, June 21, 2007.

The 160cm-tall and 68kg humanoid robot is the upgrade model from HRP-2 Promet humanoid robot jointly developed by Kawada Industry, National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, and Kawasaki heavy industry.

Aero-Blue, 2008

Humanoid robot Aero-Blue picks up a T-shirt from a laundry basket to fold it during the housekeeping robot contest in Kawasaki in Kanagawa prefecture, suburban Tokyo on August 17, 2008. Robots are increasingly capable of performing day-to-day tasks.

Physical Intelligence

With better control systems, sensors, and life-like actuators, these robots are already capable of navigating advanced terrain and using tools designed for humans.

What's next? Why, brains, of course -- and DARPA is working on that, too.

Earlier this year in National Defense Magazine, James K. Gimzewski, professor of chemistry at the University of California at Los Angeles, said that by mimicking self-organizing traits of the brain, we may soon be looking at a revolutionary breakthrough in robotic systems.